Imma Monsó‘s Catalan novel, winner of the El Premi Òmnium a la Millor Novel·la de l’Any 2023          Translated by Peter Bush

Peter Bush spoke about the book (and his other recent translations from Catalan) at BCLT’s Sant Jordi day 23 April 2026       https://www.instagram.com/bcltuea/p/DWWVG9GiV0w/

The background to this prize-winning Catalan novel is the Franco regime and the fear that haunts many people in Spain long after the end of the civil war.

Isolated at home with her parents and her thoughts, Severina subsequently becomes a teacher in the remote Dusa in the 1960s. The attractions for her are to touch snow, have a house of her own and belong in a village.

She has a special relationship with the enigmatic Simeó, a married man who is nicknamed the Beast. Simeó helps her to understand what lies behind the silence under the Franco dictatorship, and why her parents had used ambiguous language in front of her in order to protect her from danger.

Step by step she learns to bridge the gap between innocence and social and political reality under Franco’s regime.

Reviewed by

Michael Eaude for Literary Review June 2026; Shiny New Books and Riveting Reviews websites June and March 2026
The Teacher and the Beast by Imma Monsó (Translated from Catalan by Peter Bush) – review by Michael Eaude (literaryreview.co.uk)
The Teacher and the Beast by Imma Monsó – Shiny New Books
https://www.eurolitnetwork.com/rivetingreviews-michael-eaude-reviews-the-teacher-and-the-beast-by-imma-monso-translated-by-peter-bush/

James Douet for Catalonia Today April 2026 pp22-23
Catalonia Today – Home

This translation is supported by Institut Ramon Llull. See also https://www.llull.cat/catala/recursos/trac_traduccions_res.cfm?id=40608